Enterprise IT Watch Blog

As more data is collected and stored all across the world, the term ‘big data’ might be scary for some companies and CIOs. However, this infographic from ActianCorp shows why it’s not as frightening as you think.

We’ll be sharing IT events each month here on the Enterprise IT Watch blog. Got an event to add to our list? Let us know via Twitter (@ITKE) or email. Going to one of these events? Share your takeaways (and photos) with us!

Many people might think the Surface, released last week, is Microsoft’s first tablet. However, 21 years ago, Bill Gates debuted a prototype tablet from NCR that ran Windows 3.1. In this video, Gates talks about Microsoft’s first attempt at creating the ‘tablet’.

Disclaimer: All videos presented in the “YouTube IT Video of the Week” series are subjectively selected by ITKnowledgeExchange.com community managers and staff for entertainment purposes only. They are not sponsored or influenced by outside sources.

The past couple of days have been rough for many people along the East Coast, and it’s still early to assess all the damage. That said, we are able to get at least a small picture of the many companies impacted by the storm as they’ve shared their stories on Twitter. We did some digging to find out about which data centers are down, and which are coming back.

Check out the Storify below, or view it here. We’ll update as we hear more – and let us know about your story in the comments.

On October 28, 1955, America’s wealthiest man and Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington.

During his storied career, Gates made Microsoft into the world’s largest personal-computer software company and created the Microsoft Windows operating system before retiring in 2008.

He still remains the company’s chairman and recently talked about its new products (Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface). He also runs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to end poverty and expand opportunities for education and information technology.

What do you think was Gates’s greatest contribution? Tell us in the comments below.

Each Tuesday, the ITKE team will take you back in time, as we take a look at the events that have changed technology history. Have a tip for us? Email mtidmarsh@techtarget.com or find us on Twitter (@ITKE).

Disclaimer: All posts presented in the “This week in tech history” series are subjectively selected by ITKnowledgeExchange.com community managers and staff for entertainment purposes only. They are not sponsored or influenced by outside sources.

As anyone who lives on or near the East Coast of the U.S. (as we do here at ITKnowledgeExchange) knows, Hurricane Sandy is nearing landfall, with threats of strong winds, heavy rain and flooding in many areas. People are preparing by buying canned food, bottled water and batteries in bulk, moving lawn items indoors, and watching the Weather Channel around the clock (I prefer Google’s handy crisis map mashup, seen above). Some say that power could be out for days in certain areas.

The storm could disrupt people’s lives in many ways — and, like any natural disaster, it presents a real threat to IT operations around the country. How has your organization been preparing your data center for the storm? What kind of disaster recovery plan do you have in place? How has Sandy impacted your ability to provide service to your users?

We want to hear your stories. Share them in the comments below, assuming you have power — and stay safe!

For many users, keeping your password secure is a very difficult task. With so many websites to log into, most people continue to use the same one, making it easy for hackers. This infographic from Password Genie shows several characteristics of ‘weak’ passwords and tips on how you can secure them.

Also, check out Ken Harthun’s blog (Security Corner), as he recently posted an article on Yahoo!’s list of the top 25 most popular (and insecure) passwords in 2012.

As the hoopla surrounding Windows 8 and the Surface continues to build this week, Microsoft’s Chairman Bill Gates sat down and talked about the company’s new products and what it could mean for the future of technology.

Disclaimer: All videos presented in the “YouTube IT Video of the Week” series are subjectively selected by ITKnowledgeExchange.com community managers and staff for entertainment purposes only. They are not sponsored or influenced by outside sources.

If you were looking to waste time on the Internet yesterday, you might’ve been out of luck.

Pinterest, Flipboard, Foursquare and Netflix were among the many sites impacted by the latest Amazon Web Services outage, but none inspired more hand-wringing than Reddit, the increasingly infamous community that some have called the “secret backbone of the Internet” (it’s often the starting point for viral content).

Where some saw nothing but bad news, the marketing team at Joyent, a competing cloud provider, recognized an opportunity. In a post on the company blog, Joyent made its pitch to Reddit, promising 99.999% uptime and a storage block that doesn’t depend on network connections to work — all of which would translate to better availability of rage comics, AMAs and Ryan Gosling memes.

The post demonstrated that Joyent knows its way around the Reddit community, but how did the notoriously skeptical Redditors respond? With a mixture of follow-up jokes, insults and, well, some serious questions about Joyent’s claims. “Nobody can guarantee they won’t let you down at some point,” said user calzoneman. Others pointed to Joyent’s much-publicized issues with honoring lifetime accounts.

And then there’s platinumbinder, whose comment may sum up the sentiment of productivity-seeking managers everywhere: “I have a feeling that reddit downtime is actually beneficial for the world, so hosting on servers that have reasonable amounts of downtime is actually a positive thing.”

It’s doubtful that Reddit will actually make any kind of switch, but you have to give points to Joyent for creativity. Right? Ok, go back to wasting time now.

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